Roald Dahl's writing shed (1982) [video] | Hacker News Reader

Roald Dahl's writing shed (1982) [video]

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Some quotes from Dahl from the interview:

The discipline of writing:

"Your concentration is fairly intense. You're lost into this world of the story that you happen to be doing - it's terrifically demanding you know. What do I write four, four-and-a-half hours a day - so a quarter of my waking hours I am completely immersed in a dotty world of fantasy."

Writing for children vs adults:

"To my mind, there's no question that to write a children's book of comparable quality to a fine adult novel or story is more difficult - it's much more difficult to achieve the children's book."

Roald Dahl also wrote the screenplay for the James Bond film "You only live twice", which was almost completely rewritten from the novel, about which Dahl said "Fleming's worst book, with no plot in it which would even make a movie", comparing it to a travelogue of Japan.

You probably know this, but for those who don't:

Roald Dahl and Ian Fleming were both actual British spies who knew each other well and shared story ideas. Fleming partially based Bond on Dahl's work in the war.

Dahl's job in WWII was sleeping with rich American women to gather intelligence data.

For some reason I thought Roald Dahl was a fighter pilot, but maybe that was just one of his stories, or maybe I misremember.

He was, for the first few years of the war. His wikipedia article has the details of his wartime career. You're probably thinking of "A Piece of Cake", which was his first published story and based on a plane crash he'd been in in 1940.

You are right, he was a fighter pilot but was injured and ended up in Canada and America doing diplomatic/intelligence work.

Goodness me. Got pointers for me to read? Thanks.

The Irregulars https://www.amazon.com/Irregulars-Roald-British-Wartime-Wash...

Curious. He also wrote the screenplay for Chitty Chitty Bang Bang - another Ian Fleming novel.

Are Roald Dahl's adult novels as good as his children's books? I absolutely loved to read his stories as a child and probably would enjoy a similar experience as an adult. Heck I should probably pick Fantastic Mister Fox or Danny the Champion of the World and read them again.

Boy you'll love e.g. "My Uncle Oswald" - I've only consciously discovered Dahl while looking for dark humored books in my teens and then was surprised to find out he was the author behind a lot of very well known childrens books also!

His short stories for adults are even better than his children's books.

His two part autobiography is also excellent in both the writing style but also as a window into what it was like growing up in England in the interwar period, working for Shell in the late stages of the Colonial Empire and fighting in lesser known spots of World War 2.

'Boy' and 'Going Solo'

I've read only the first one, and I would not consider it an "adult" book. I read it as a kid, and its written to be quite readable by kids.

Great book, though.

Check out The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar and Six More if you didn't read it when you were young.

Or, read it anyway, it's truly wonderful. I particularly love "The Boy Who Talked With Animals" and "The Swan".

Some of his 'Tales Of The Unexpected' stories are on YT

Thanks! I read the book decades ago and had no idea they made a TV show out of it.

I've read his adult short stories. Very good. But very different from his kid's novels.

They are definitely good. "Switch Bitch" is imprinted in my mind.

> You can quote Oscar Wild and say "When I am gone, I hope it will be said: that my sins were scarlet, but my books were read"

It's interesting to compare his setup for writing to a modern day setup for coding. I think there is a lot to be said for the little cues that give your mind the prompts it needs to know that you are "working". Clearly his setup helped him really get in the zone and it's interesting to see a 80's version of it.

I remember hearing about the writing shed and thinking it was really cool, until I realized it was so he could write his mistress(Felicity d'Abreu Crosland) without his wife finding out about it.

What a perfect chair and table for a laptop, inspirational!

Having lived from age 5 to 11 in London in the 80s, this throwback to old school BBC interviewing is quite the blast from the past.

I found it interesting that while he was very particular about setting up his writing nest and getting in the zone, he had two telephones on the desk next to him which surely would be a distraction, a temptation, or a combination of the two.

I loved to see in the video what looks like a specific ritual he does in his little shed to get ready to work, really preparing himself mentally for a long focused stretch, amazing!

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